1. Technical field of the Invention
This invention relates to a developer collection vessel for collecting waste toner, a developer collected from a developing machine adopting a trickle developing system, or the like and an image formation apparatus comprising the developer collection vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electrophotographic image formation apparatus applied to a printer, a copier, etc., developers to be discharged occur in a photoconductor, a transfer roll, a developing machine, etc., and need to be collected, and a developer collection vessel is placed.
Hitherto, as an image formation apparatus comprising this kind of developer collection vessel, an apparatus has been disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2912073. In the related art example, a plurality of collected developer occurrence sections are connected to a discharge section via a transport passage and the discharge section is connected to a collection port formed in the collection vessel so as to collect collected developers occurring from the collected developer occurrence sections.
When the collection vessel becomes full of the developers, it needs to be replaced and thus the collection vessel being full of the developers is detached from the discharge section and a new collection vessel is attached. In this case, to prevent the developer from spilling from the discharge section, it is possible to provide the collection vessel with a shutter for opening/closing the collection port. It may be common practice to abut the discharge section against the shutter when the collection vessel is attached and open the shutter in association with attachment of the collection vessel.
However, when the collection vessel is detached, the shutter needs to be closed to prevent the developer from spilling from the collection port and thus the shutter is urged in a direction closing the collection port using a spring, etc. Thus, when the collection vessel is attached, a press force is placed on the discharge section from the shutter and the press force on the discharge section is transmitted to a collected developer occurrence section. If the collected developer occurrence section is cleaned with a blade, for example, there is a fear of causing a blade nip failure, etc., to occur. If the collected developer occurrence section is movable, for example, if the image formation apparatus comprises a magnet roll of a developing machine detachable from a photoconductor and the developing machine is provided with the collected developer occurrence section, when the discharge section abuts the shutter, it is feared that the pressure acting on the discharge section from the shutter may hinder a move of the developing machine.
It is a first object of the invention to prevent pressure of a shutter from being placed on a discharge section in a developer collection vessel having the shutter. It is a second object of the invention to make it possible to allow a discharge section to move. It is a third object of the invention to simplify a mechanism for opening and closing a collection port including a shutter.
To the ends, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an image formation apparatus comprising a collected developer occurrence section, a discharge section being connected to the collected developer occurrence section, a collection vessel having a collection port into which the discharge section is inserted and a shutter urged in a direction closing the collection port, and retreat means for retreating the shutter to a position where the discharge section does not abut the shutter with the discharge section inserted in the collection port. Therefore, the retreat means retreats the shutter to a position where the shutter does not abut the discharge section with the discharge section inserted in the collection port, so that pressure of the shutter can be prevented from being placed on the discharge section.
The collected developer occurrence sections are placed in the developing machines, the photoconductors, the intermediate transfer bodies, the transfer roll, etc., and are formed as developer discharge passages and cleaning means. Each developing machine adopts a trickle developing system, for example, and to collect an extra developer, the developer is collected into the collection vessel. The collected developer occurrence sections are placed so that they can be moved in any other direction than the insertion axial direction of the discharge section; for example, if the collected developer occurrence section is placed in the developing machine, it is placed so that it can be moved in a direction coming in or out of contact with the photoconductor. If the discharge section is moved together with the collected developer occurrence section, the collection port is formed as a shape for allowing the discharge section to move. The collection port is shaped like a long hole, for example. Preferably, the shutter is retreated to a position where the shutter does not interfere with the discharge section in the movable range of the discharge section. To place the collection vessel on an image formation apparatus main unit, the collection vessel is not necessarily placed straightly on the image formation apparatus main unit. Thus, if the collection vessel is placed slantingly on the image formation apparatus main unit, preferably the discharge section first abuts and the shutter is opened so as not to hinder opening the shutter. Further, the retreat means may have a configuration for enabling the shutter urged in the closing direction to be moved to the retreat position. A protrusion may be provided in the image formation apparatus main unit for moving the shutter or the shutter can also be moved in conjunction with the cover of the image formation apparatus main unit.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an image formation apparatus comprising a plurality of collected developer occurrence sections, a plurality of discharge sections being connected to the plurality of collected developer occurrence sections, and a collection vessel having a plurality of collection ports into which the plurality of discharge sections are inserted and a shutter urged in a direction closing the plurality of collection ports, wherein the shutter opens and closes the plurality of collection ports in one piece. Therefore, one shutter may be used to open and close the plurality of collection ports, so that the number of parts can be lessened and the opening/closing mechanism can be simplified.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an image formation apparatus comprising a collected developer occurrence section, a discharge section being connected to the collected developer occurrence section, and a collection vessel formed with a collection port into which the discharge section is inserted, wherein the discharge section is moved in any other direction than the insertion axial direction of the discharge section into the collection port and the collection port is formed as a shape for allowing the discharge section to move. Therefore, the discharge section can move the collection port freely, so that load can be prevented from being imposed on the collected developer occurrence section.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided an image formation apparatus comprising a photoconductor, a developing machine being placed so that the developing machine can be brought into and out of contact with the photoconductor, and a collection vessel formed with a collection port into which a discharge section connected to a collected developer occurrence section placed in the developing machine is inserted, wherein the collection port is formed as a shape for allowing the discharge section to move as the developing machine is brought into and out of contact with the photoconductor. Although a magnet roll of the developing machine is brought away from the photoconductor when the image formation operation is not performed, the discharge section connected to the developing machine can move the collection port freely, so that the developing machine can be moved smoothly.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a developer collection vessel used with the image formation apparatus described above.